I know it’s so easy. Just get that can opener and whip out that Campbell’s soup. Add some milk or water, stir and heat or, even worse, microwave it. All hot! Perfect. Slap it on the table with some crackers and bam! Lunch.

Well, one of two things can happen, you don’t have any canned soup and the kids are starving or, you have chicken that is thawed and ready to go and we all know what that means, that means cook me NOW. Chicken has that scary factor. We never, ever let it sit, right? We don’t say, “oh, I’ll cook it tomorrow.” Nope. We do something with it. Today!

For me, it was a combination. I had chicken to cook AND no canned soup. Pretty much the story of my life. But you know, my kids loved it. Ate till their bellies were like mocha colored beach balls. I know this isn’t a dinner, but it is summer, kids are home and hungry and we all need a reminder….homecooking works for lunch too! Or at least semi-homecooked. 🙂 Enjoy!

Chicken and Broccoli Soup:

4 Chicken Tenders – $2.97
1/2 package frozen Broccoli – $.70
8-10 ozs of pasta (cooked and drained) – $1.00
2 Tbsp Chicken Bouillon Powder – pantry
1 Bay Leaf – pantry
1 tsp dried basil – pantry
1/2 tsp pepper – pantry
4 cups water

COST: $4.67

Precook pasta and set aside. In 4 cups of water, simmer chicken with bouillon, pepper, bay leaf and basil. You can add onion if you like. My kids don’t like onion so I squeaked in some dried. Shhhhh…don’t tell.

Once chicken is tender, usually about 15-20 minutes, add frozen broccoli and bring back to boil. Once up to boil, add cooked pasta and turn off heat. Serve warm with butter crackers or saltines. You can break up the tenders or serve one per serving.

So much better than canned glob with water added. The kids will seriously thank you for this lunch! And you, you will enjoy this too. In fact, you might add more veggies and your own broth and make it a full on meal. All I know, it beats the hell out of chicken noodle soup from the can. Period!

GRAND TOTAL: $4.67